


The Fire Dancer

by sanctum_c



Series: The Fire Dancer [2]
Category: Final Fantasy VII
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Fire Powers, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-02
Updated: 2020-04-04
Packaged: 2021-02-28 17:47:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 10,626
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23451187
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sanctum_c/pseuds/sanctum_c
Summary: Each Cetra has a specific type of magic unique to them; Aeris's is fire.
Relationships: post-Zack Fair/Aerith Gainsborough, pre-Aerith Gainsborough/Cloud Strife
Series: The Fire Dancer [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2009515
Kudos: 7





	1. Friction

**Author's Note:**

> Written back in 2014 and a result of some discussions with raaj. This was intended as a full re-write of FFVII but has been languishing for a while. I've written bits and pieces (including a major story change and the ultimate end-point of the AU) set in the same AU for various prompt weeks. I will link those in as I go.

Fire had fascinated Aeris Gainsborough all her life; it was part of her, part of who she was and how she lived. Her obsession and maybe also a curse. Her earliest memories of it were uncomfortable reminders of her captivity and the ever present menace of Hojo. The man who watched, prodded and poked at her and her mother.

The first day she understood anything of the fire inside her was during a routine blood test. One of Hojo’s many lackeys clamped a hand around her arm as he pushed the needle into her skin without grace or compassion. It hurt. It was no different to the pain from any previous test but this time something broke inside and Aeris retaliated. She meant to kick him but an intriguing other possibility surfaced. The knowledge seemed to bubble up out of the recesses of her mind. How to form the flame and make it appear- There.

The lab assistant flailed backwards in a panic as the sleeve of his lab-coat exuded a thin wisp of smoke and a tiny flame flared up. He let go of Aeris, unsure and wary of what to do. She took a hesitant step back and willed to get bigger. The flame sputtered and flared up, the assistant crying out in fear. Too little though; the man’s cries attracted attention and with them fire blankets. All too soon they extinguished the flames.

She tried to ignite another flame on the guard as he dragged her back to her mother, but nothing came. Had she done it at all? She felt sure she had controlled the flame but how to do it now escaped her. But she wanted to know, needed to know how to call up the fire again.

Her mother swept her into an embrace as soon as they were alone. This was not unusual; her mother doted on her whenever they were together, but there was something different today. She spoke in a voice little above a whisper of how proud she was, how Aeris had awoken to her own unique skill. And how she should try to hide it. The incident would attract Hojo’s attention but unless he could coax another response out of her he would not press the issue. Her mother made her promise no matter what Hojo did she would not cause a fire at his request. Not understanding – not yet – Aeris promised. It did not seem necessary to add she could not at present remember how she had achieved the effect.

Hojo wasted little time. The next day Aeris was placed within a glass tube as the man who haunted her nightmares leered at her. He was different; his hair matted down with a thick substance she would later discover was flame retardant. He now likewise coated his skin and changed from his typical lab coat into a non-flammable outfit. Nothing remained in the lab now save a small plinth containing a glass beaker filled with a colourless fluid. Water maybe?

Hojo made his offer; set the contents of the beaker alight and she would avoid testing for the next week. The concept of a week was an almost vague term to Aeris. Night and day mere concepts here, the passage of time more instinctive than measurable. But if a week was, as she suspected, seven periods awake, it was a tempting prize. Her mother’s words echoed in her mind and despite the temptation she knew she needed to refuse. She shook her head and stared back at the man with defiance. Hojo smiled; a horrible sight, remarking she could do it before. He was toying with her; withdrawing the offer of a test free week in favour a new one: avoiding an immediate blood test. A nervous assistant with a needle approached her. He too was coated with the same gunk as Hojo.

Aeris backed away from the man, her eyes fixed on the needle. Usually this was only every few days, never this soon. Her mind reeled and there was the knowledge again. It was so simple, so easy. It would only make things worse though. Biting her lip she stepped back as the cylinder opened and did nothing. The assistant glanced at Hojo with nervous eyes, his superior gesturing to continue. The assistant licked his lips, sweat beading on his brow. Unlike the previous day, this man was gentle, delicate, and terrified of her. She watched his nervousness with a thrill of power. She was scaring him: their relationship had inverted. The needle pierced her arm with a sting but she still did nothing.

Hojo scowled as the assistant exited the tube and resealed it. He batted the proffered sample away, spilling warm red blood across the floor. Aeris hated the tests, but to waste the sample, to injure her and discard it. No! He was trying to make her react. She could not let him get to her. Hojo watched her and smiled, the sight chilling her. He grabbed the assistant and whispered something to him. The assistant was shocked, but nodded. As he scurried away, Hojo approached and made a new offer. Set the beaker on fire, and he would stop all his experiments today. A cheap offer now in light of the original. But she still refused. She had promised.

The lab door opened and Aeris gasped. Two Shinra guards entered along with her mother. Her frightened eyes took in the bare lab and her daughter sealed in a glass tube. She glanced with fear at the grinning scientist who stared back at her; his gaze flicking between mother and daughter.

“Last chance,” he said; this directed at Aeris. Her mother who shook her head. Hojo sighed, muttering something about damaging a specimen. He told one of the guards to “Do it” and stared at Aeris once more. All her attention was on her mother as the guard slammed his fist into her stomach. Aeris started, hands pressed against the glass, as her mother cried out in pain. She slumped, the guard’s arms catching her before she fell. “Again,” the horrible man said and the guard repeated his action without a pause. “It would all stop if you would just set the beaker on fire,” Hojo said with a smirk, never taking his eyes from her. Fury mounted within Aeris combining with her new knowledge; the range and intensity she would use. She could throw a flame onto the man’s leg. That would stop him.

Her mother lifted her head to stare at her and mouthed “No.” Hojo made another command and the trooper punched mother’s face. Shock, fear, terror, rage coursed through her, and now it was too late. Her mother moaned, but Aeris’s fingers had twitched and a flame flickered up the guard’s trouser leg. He stumbled backwards in panic as Hojo grinned, chuckling as she screamed and erupted a new gout of flame onto the other trooper. The guard let her mother fall to the floor as he panicked with his flaming uniform. Hojo raised his voice and shouted something she could not make out. His assistant entered with a fire extinguisher, dousing the two terrified guards.

Hojo ignored it all, ignored the soft moans of her injured mother on the floor to step closer to her. “You can do it.” And if she did not want this to happen again she would follow orders; the guards would not be vulnerable next time. Quivering with anger and guilt, Aeris could only stare at the floor as he appraised her. Mother and daughter dismissed for the day. Aeris sobbed and apologized to her wincing mother. Her mother cooed and stroked her hair, forgiving her everything. She confessed she did not anticipate Hojo reacting so fast or so callously. Just do as he asked was her new advice. But nothing more. Never reveal how far her skill could extend.

Aeris cooperated with Hojo, setting tiny fires at varying distances, wired up so he could see how her body responded. He noted her above average temperature, checked her brain waves from rest to pyrokinesis and back again. New inflammable garments replaced her old clothes. Following a series of unexplained fires, the surrounding floor had all flammable material removed. Time passed; every day another test or another blood sample, another measure of what she was and what she could do. No point in showing off to Hojo, but at the same time she felt constricted by holding back. She could do so much more with the fire, she wanted to let it loose, to enjoy its beauty and power. But she did not want to show Hojo.

The day she left Shinra’s clutches and her mother died was a change to the norm; both mother and daughter in the lab together. Hojo demanded his regular test of her range and the intensity of the flame, but seemed distracted, soon turning his attentions to her mother. His words meant little to Aeris as a child, other than the nagging fear of how much they upset her mother. Years later she understood the terms and callous estimation of her mother’s body, Hojo’s words sickening.

Mother was still fertile Hojo stated, she was young, she was attractive. Had she thought of expanding her family again? Her mother stared at the scientist with cold, harsh eyes stating he knew full well her husband was dead. Hojo smiled, remarking she could find a new partner and produce a new child, a new specimen for him. While this one, he gestured towards Aeris, had skill with fire, the mother’s skill seemed faded. He wanted another test case. Who was to say another child would exhibit the same skills? Her mother paled at the words asking what he meant in a stuttering voice.

Hojo’s poker-face slipped into a smile as he made a crude offer, her mother’s head twisting away from him in shock. She muttered no, the awful grin on Hojo’s face only widening. If she continued with her attitude he would select a different mate for her. Maybe something exotic. Some species near extinction. A different type of hybrid would be so interesting. Years later Aeris would shiver when recalling his words, now recognising Hojo’s stress on something instead of someone.

Aeris was roused from slumber later. Her mother whispered quick, quiet words asking Aeris to demonstrate the full extent of her power. Her mother had paid careful attention to the layout of the building, and once stood before President Shinra. She knew there was nothing flammable on this floor, but Hojo underestimated her daughter. He never considered the three-dimensional implications of her power. Her mother asked and Aeris complied. She concentrated, calling forth flames in a wide arc five meters above her. Then ten. Fifteen. Twenty. By twenty-five alarm bells began to sound through the building. Her mother told her to be ready to move.

Each time Aeris concentrated and felt a flame flicker into life. Each time she felt she could glimpse the area around it. She began to concentrate on paper, carpets, curtains and in some cases, clothes. Fire spread in an arc over her head and still the alarms wailed. Distant shouts and the feeling of movement. Finally the door to the cell was flung open. An ordinary guard, so flammable, stood breathing hard and shouting they had to get out. Her mother gathered Aeris into her arms and walked out of the cell. The building was in chaos. Employees forgot drills, stumbling with valuables and personal items. Her mother, Aeris and the trooper joined the crush of people filing into the emergency stairway.

They could not hope to blend in; the cuts, bruises and different clothing marked mother and daughter out from the other employees. Nervous twitches now ran through her mother as they approached street level. She had little doubt someone who understood what they were would be watching and waiting for their emergence. If not for the sudden fire and timing likely Hojo would have used a show of force to prevent the fire from spreading.

They reached ground-level and her mother stared upwards in shock. It was so bright out here, and Aeris followed her gaze. Fear constricted her as she gazed at the dizzying heights above her. Where before there was always a metal ceiling, now there was nothing but a blue infinity. She clutched at her mother in fear as the older woman whispered something, glancing around her. She pushed them both into the crowd, shuffling forward as Aeris tried to tear her eyes from the spectacle above.

Worried and uncaring employees pulled back from the woman and child with the fading injuries. Aeris heard mutterings about slum-dwellers making it up here again. They ought to beef up security. Shouts behind her as her mother kept pushing, following signs leading her towards the station. Another shout and the horrifying sound of readied weapons. Her mother pivoted on her heel, keeping her own body between them and Aeris.

She held her hand out palm open towards the troops. Surrender? They lowered their weapons in expectation, and she struck. Lightning arced from her palm to each of the troops, slamming them backward and frightening the rest. She threw another spark after the first, grabbed Aeris's hand and ran. The sector was in chaos, the upper floors of the Shinra building in flames, employees scattered over the streets. People rushed towards and away from the enormous building.

They ran, working off instinct now. Her mother knew they were off the ground at least, realized what the blue sky above them meant in this city. If nothing else getting to ground level would be essential in escaping the city. That meant going down to the slums and meant taking the train. She ran, not wasting time to see if the troops had recovered yet, backups called in or if she had somehow evaded them. They could not waste this opportunity. Reaching the station by chance they found no train waiting. Her mother’s eyes flicked around the platform, pulse racing before making a decision. She leapt down onto the tracks and helped Aeris down after, running towards the tunnel entrance yawning wide ahead of them.

Calming in the tunnel; a comforting surface now above her head again. Her mother kept moving her forward, glancing back at a distant shout. She pushed her daughter ahead of her as a shot rang out and stumbled before continuing. Her breathing grew heavy and glancing around with anxious eyes, she pressed a hand to her side. She and Aeris hurried as the metal around them reverberated with the rumble of distant trains.

Aeris spotted the hatch; a narrow cramped passage leading down to another tunnel below. It would have to do. The sounds of a distant train grew louder as her mother ushered her down the ladder and followed. A swiftly train rounded the bend, blasting them with air as it rocketed past and towards the station. The noise was deafening in the echoing tunnels. Her mother’s face twisted in agony and her mouth fell open as if in pain but Aeris heard nothing above the din. The train passed above them, and they began walking again. They were moving slower than before, her mother no longer capable of the frantic rush from before.

They walked for long hours in the cramped tunnels, clutching at walls as trains hurtled past them, feeling their way through darkened sections. They were still free her mother whispered with a pained smile; Shinra must have lost track of them. Tunnels like a maze, but her mother took the route sloping down. Aeris gasped when the tunnels ended and they stepped again into the open air on the central hub of Midgar.

The air was muggy and tinted with the faint odour of mako. There was an up above her; an up of astonishing size. Gigantic metal plates locked in place high above and a cave-like expanse of city-scape below the plate. The new ceiling provided a comfort. The effect marred slightly by the gaps running along the gigantic triangular plates.

Mother leaned against a support strut before heaving upright with effort. Mother and daughter walked hand in hand down the heavy mesh bordering the rails. Her mother’s smile was becoming fixed as they descended and the mako stench of the slums was becoming unavoidable.

They followed the train-line.

The slum track system was open to the air and no further tunnels to navigate. Her mother selected a route leading towards the outer walls and freedom. As the sounds of trains faded and the mechanical switching system quietened they moved into Sector Five. Her mother pushed Aeris up and onto the station with a struggle heaved her own body up. She was wincing but still able to walk with quick uneven steps which lasted until the steps down onto the street. Her legs had threatened to give out before, but now she stumbled from the steps and dropped beside them. Mother struggled up and into a seated position, breathing hard.

Aeris reached out a nervous hand to her mother’s again. Her eyes had closed now and she seemed to be resting. Nerves shook Aeris as she glanced around, huddling closer to her mother. She felt cold to the touch, and Aeris snuggled in tighter to try and keep her warm. New sights and smells kept catching her eye, maddening curiosity pulling her attention away. The floor below them was stone, covered in cracks and gashes; a far cry from the smooth metal of the labs. Discarded paper, empty bottles, and unidentifiable, organic remains littered the area. Distant rumbles came from the metal ceiling above her, strange whistling noises in the eddying air. It was warm here. So much warmer before. Why was her mother so cold?

They needed to move. They had gotten away from Hojo, but it could not last. She shook her mother, trying to coax her into waking. Her breathing continued uninterrupted, but she did not open her eyes. Aeris tried talking to her, but nothing seemed to work. Fear welled up within her and her eyes filled with tears. Her mother’s breathing was becoming shallower, a definite wheeze now audible as she drew in each breath, her eyes shut tight.

A gentle voice sounded in her ears, and she raised her head, looking through bleary eyes at another woman. She rarely saw anyone like her mother. Hojo had few female assistants, and the ones she had seen did not have the gentle eyes and soft smile of the stranger standing near her. Brown braided hair flowed down the woman’s back, a grubby apron around her waist. Her mother stirred, one final wheezing effort as she gasped out what would be her last words. It was a heartfelt request for this soft-spoken stranger to take care of her daughter.

The woman was confused and worried, but nodded as her mother’s body lost its grip on the world. Relaxing forever, a faint smile remained on her lips as her chest stilled. Aeris started at her mother’s stillness, blinking up at the woman. She smiled back, holding out one hand. Aeris took it, and pressed against the woman, seeking her warmth, grateful to feel her arms sliding around her. She felt safe.

The stranger checked her mother’s words. Aeris confirmed her name was Aeris and the stranger asked the young girl to come home with her; she had promised her mother after all. Aeris did not know what to think until she heard a faint whispering from somewhere far away. She should go with this woman, and she would look after her in her mother’s stead. She nodded at the stranger who gave her name as Elmyra Gainsborough.

Tears still trickling from her eyes Aeris held Elmyra's hand as they walked away from her mother and her past. As they turned the corner and away from the station, she glanced back, seeing her mother for the last time. A train pulled into the station, prompting a guard to approach. He forgot his duties as he noticed the slumped figure, rushing to her and calling out. He took her pulse, and sank back onto his haunches with a pained expression. The door of the train opened, shaking him from his reverie. He pulled his coat off and covered Aeris’s mother.

A new wave of sadness welled up in the young girl and the the corner cut off all view of the station and she knew her mother was gone.


	2. Sparks

Aeris sighted along the line of candles she had set up on the scorched and blackened wooden floorboards of the church. She concentrated briefly on the first and ignited the wick. The easy part. Gently she flexed her fingers and the second candle’s wick ignited; the first’s extinguished. She sighed. Not how it should go.

Her latest idea was to bounce the flames along a run of candles, the flame flicking from one candle to the next. She’d had the idea for some time she realised after she’d seen the garish signs flicking on and off in places like Wall Market; the flicker of one light bulb pulsing a fraction out of sync with its neighbour to create the sensation of motion. She wanted to do the same kind of thing with the candles. 

She could mimic the effect easily enough, but wrong, odd, noticeable and strange. It would, she suspected, look merely mechanical instead of truly impossible. The flicking fire was less achievable and she hoped someone would later ask her about tiny hairs strung between the candles and tiny charges to produce the first flame. And she would smile and nod and give the impression they alone had figured out how she had done the trick – never realising Aeris’ equipment contained no such additions.

* * *

At nine Aeris saw her first fire dancer. The girl was twice her age; she’d spread a coat on the ground in front of her as she’d performed her routine. Aeris was entranced as the girl flicked fire through the air, carving shapes from movement and visual after-burn. She twirled, whipping flames around her, her costume a deep red curving in the air behind her limbs. She had added her own gil to the donations from passers-by, looking carefully at the props now extinguished, clustered behind the girl as she ended her routine and counted her earnings.

Aeris never plucked up the courage to speak to the dancer; she never learned her name – her fate unknown and long lost within the city. But Aeris could see the short-comings in the performance, see how to perform the same moves with an additional flourish, and how to use her own personal skills to augment and produce something stunning.

Eleven years later and she had so many props now. The clubs and staff she juggled and twirled; flicking them through the air, never entirely concerned if she caught the right end. She’d gotten so fast no one noticed when she did slip – and if anyone did, her lack of later injury required no explanation of how she coped.

She carved graceful, beautiful arcs of fire in the air with her poi, whirling the chains in sync in the air around her, winding streams of fire and sparks falling all around her. Known locally as The Fire Dancer after a later stage of her acts; opening with juggling before moving onto arcing shapes with the poi, breathing flames onto each prop as need be and eating them afterwards.

All delightful and familiar to the crowds she could attract when performing. She walked on blisteringly hot coals with ease, but they’d seen others do similar; though not usually taking as long and while juggling.

Aeris had earned her nick-name from the dancing; she drew the crowds in with the easy tricks, the ones they’d seen before. Maybe slightly more spectacular, maybe slightly riskier than any other performer was willing to try, but what captured imaginations was her dancing. Stopping for only to click the small tape-player on, she would move to the rhythm, combining all of her previous skills with new ones as she whipped flames all around her, onto her arms, and occasionally - to spectacular applause - her hair, transforming her auburn hair into cascading waves of yellow fire after she’d teased her ribbon and its cargo from her braid. The reaction was so spectacular she tried to resist doing it; too often and it would seem easy, mechanical, boring.

Her slinky, shimmering red dress wove through the air with the flames, blending her clothes with the flaming paths of swooping mundane fire, and her own magical manifestations. It had remained worthwhile taking the slightly clumsy, cramped minutes to change from her jacket and sun-dress into her performance outfit in the cramped confines of a public toilet before beginning her performances.

There was a second dance she could do though; one she’d only tried once in the privacy of her bedroom – and for only one person: Zack. Her boyfriend. Well, former boyfriend. Five long years now since they had last spoken.

She could still remember the day she met him; an above plate performance of whirling fire, and quiet applause. The open air above Midgar no longer held the same near paralysing fear as her mother engineered their escape from Shinra’s clutches. It had not been an easy fear to overcome; she’d grown far too comforted by the metallic ceiling above her. But she heard of others who went up onto the plate – to work, to visit or explore. People younger and older had no fear of the open air, and gradually Aeris felt the same should be true for her too. But to give up a fear as deeply held was not easy, and she built gradually up to stepping out onto the upper plates.

At first she sought out the gaps in the plate, stepping carefully forward until she aligned with the open space, always staying close to some structure she could cling to in case - as she secretly feared - the ground would lose its grip on her and she would fall upwards and helpless into the blue. It had never happened, and she grew bolder about coming out from the cover of the plates and, thoroughly pleased, took a train to the upper surface. She stared up at the sky, her feet still solidly on the ground and tried to remember the fear. As it stood now, the sky held a fascination, part of a larger, vaster world it seemed so wrong to hide from.

The audience on the night she met Zack had not been as generous as on other occasions, but meeting him- Worth it. She’d initially recoiled as the SOLDIER approached, the mako eyes instantly giving away his nature and role within the Shinra company. She rapidly put the stave between them and ignited the tip. That distracted him; few had the attachment to fire she did, no one would ignore flames in front of their eyes. She’d asked carefully, suspiciously what he wanted, not trusting his word, not yet, as he praised her performance.

Zack gushed. He’d never seen anything like it, and was curious how she was doing it. Professional secrets she’d retorted tightly. It could be him feeling her out, trying to see if she was the girl who had escaped all those years ago.

Why bother though? Tseng knew full well who she was and indeed where she lived.

Materia was the SOLDIER’s first guess at her secret. She allowed more of a smile and denied it, turning her hands to show she held no glowing orbs. The SOLDIER was thoughtful and ran his eyes over her props as the crowd dispersed; she kept a careful eye on her donations. There was always a chance this SOLDIER was one of a pair waiting to distract her before stealing away her slim earnings. His gaze eventually met back at her eyes again and she stared back. Maybe life was better with some mysteries he said after holding her gaze. Then he smiled. It was infectious and she smiled back at him.

Everything sprang from there. He asked where she would be performing next, a question she couldn’t entirely answer; so much decided by whim, the feel of a crowd and the buzz of the area. He was slightly crestfallen, but promised to stop by if she performed up on the plates again. Here was good he said. Here she had a good chance of seeing him again - if she wanted to naturally. He dropped some gil in with the rest of the donations and with a smile and a wave he strolled away.

There was something different about him. The next night she performed in the same spot; the tips were good and not like she was hoping to catch the eye of the black-haired SOLDIER again. Foolish; poor tips last time. The SOLDIER was the lure drawing her back to the same place. Sure enough he was there again. She learnt his name; Zack Fair. She demurred to let him know her own name and Zack never missing a beat praising her on her performance. She went back the next night. This time he offered her a date.

She’d grown used to him now, her guard still there but tempered by the enthusiastic and friendly SOLDIER. A fun date, Zack easy-going and simple to talk to. She was cagey on her past, where she lived and Zack didn’t blink. He steered smoothly past the conversation dead-ends and taboo subjects to ask questions about her performances, how she chose her music, where her props came from. He made little suggestions and critiqued her displays.

Some ideas she took on board; never having had the chance to have a third person truly review her dances and she liked the ideas. Others she ignored, preferring to keep the deeply personal choices despite the comments, but agreed to another date without stopping to think. Next date was her first kiss and Zack astonished by the warmth of her skin, drawing her closer into his arms as the upper plate temperature began to fall.

More dates followed, the pair growing closer and gradually more intimate. Until she waited, craftily, carefully, for Mom’s absence on an errand and invited the purple-eyed boy back to her house.

She’d wanted to seduce him, go further but at the same time she wanted to make it as memorable as possible – hitting on the idea of using her flames in a slightly different way to before. She guided him into her house and pushed him back onto her bed, his eyes wide with anticipation and a little worry. She gestured at him to stay still as she used a different piece of music, something slower, sensual, possibly the soundtrack to some romantic show; she didn’t care what it was, she needed something to move to. She’d been to Wall Market and seen the woman flaunting and using their bodies to entice, and she’d wanted to try the same – but for him.

She’d teased and danced, fingers opening buttons and exposing with the bare flesh beneath, slowly removing her jacket, her dress. She brought the fire in; as she discarded her bra, before Zack had a chance to see beneath, she coiled a band of fire around her chest – his eyes widening at her daring. As her underwear dropped to the floor she coiled another band across her thighs and teased the ribbon from her hair and ignited the strands. Still she moved and danced, watching his delighted face as she continued to tease him, the flames on her body growing gradually smaller, exposing more and more skin.

And everything went so wrong. She’d always avoided playing with fire in the house; she had absolute control over it, but there was always the tiny, annoying risk something would go wrong. Outside was better, and in the church was better still as no one could watch her there. The flames from her hair brushed against the curtains as she flicked her hair in response to a beat; she didn’t notice, she was far too involved to be fully aware of her surroundings and Zack had fixed all his attention on her.

The first whiffs of smoke revealed what had happened and it was almost too late; the curtains engulfed in flames, the ceiling scorched, Zack panicked at what had happened. She dropped her flames and began scrabbling for clothes, Zack asked worriedly if they had a fire extinguisher - yes, downstairs in the kitchen - and he ran to get it as she hurriedly dressed, trying to draw the flames back, but she was too distracted with the worry of the damage, the unmistakable smell of smoke now sweeping though the house, the mood-killer she’d managed to achieve.

Zack returned with the extinguisher and doused the curtains liberally. Zack mused, deciding they needed a way to cover this up. He pushed open the window them, and begun swiping at the ceiling with a cloth before concluding they needed paint.

That day was a bust. They opened all the windows in the house; Midgar air was not exactly fresh, but at least the house did not stink of burning. Zack went out on quick errands to buy air freshener, paint, new curtains and something she could claimed to have botched cooking; they might not entirely hide the smokey smell, but they could at least provide an alternate explanation.

A meat pie left in the oven as the two of them kept a careful eye on it to ensure provided the excuse they needed. Zack won a lot of points. Never complained once, always helpful and eager to cover up this incident; she felt grateful, but disappointed her plans came to nothing. They could try again though and this time without any kind of fancy display.

To her dismay she would never seen Zack alive again; he shipped out on a mission the next day, promising to return as soon as he could. Five years ago. She’d rationalised as she’d had to; he must have found someone else out there on his mission, maybe married her, settled down and had kids. Or was it a her? Maybe he had found a him instead? She had no leads, no idea where he had lived before. 

She wasn’t sure where he had lived within Midgar; she had not been eager to draw any more of Shinra’s attention. She smiled at the thought; because of course, dating a member of SOLDIER, their elite fighting force, kept the company’s attention away from her.

But it wasn’t as if they had no idea where she was or how she was coping; Tseng the initial proof, along with his dark-suited assistants – the Turks as she had eventually learned their moniker. They watched and she’d noticed they tended to get twitchy if she ever had reason to go near the outer wall of the city; her warders allowed her to rove all she wanted inside this larger prison, but to actually leave was another matter altogether. They were rarely around on her trips to the upper plates however.

An Upper plate audience usually paid better compared to a slum audience – the people up there actually had spare money to give to the girl who danced with fire. But money made no difference to the attitudes of some of her audience; there was a sense of judgement in the eyes of many she tried so hard to ignore.

The barely whispered mutterings of personal slurs and estimations of her love life dogged her, comments on her neckline, the fit of her dress or the height the skirt could lift as she danced. These audiences reached their conclusions by no more information seeing her step gracefully through arcing flames and weave sparks in time to the music, appreciating neither the co-ordination required to spin and weave the fiery props as she did or the hours she had practised her dances.

She performed on the upper plates the previous night; the night of the explosion. It had caught her off-guard, as she stood outside Goblin’s Bar, slowly drawing in a crowd with a few simpler gimmicky tricks, making sure she had their attention before beginning one of her more elaborate routines. The Sector Eight crowd always seemed appreciative of her performances – far more contrasted with some of the neighbouring residential plates, especially the vast tract of Shinra housing comprising most of Sector Seven.

Juggling had given way to the arcing flames of the poi, which had given way to her staff, whirling fire around her as she began her first dance. She wove her trickery and her natural gift with flames into her performance, augmenting her long practised routine with flourishes and images. She flared delicate firery roses from her staff as it twirled through the air and scattered flaming rose petals out above the crowd; the tiny flames vanishing well before they could connect with the crowd.

She’d flicked the staff down behind her with a practised flick of her wrist, shooting the flames from ends up into the air in high arcs as she began her main dance. Today she decided to do the trick with her hair as she swept flames along her arms.

And the explosion hit. She could barely process what happened as the ground swept out from under her. An awful sense of horror in the pit of her stomach as her brain tried to put events together; could those last two flames have caused this?

She landed awkwardly as people screamed around her and began running; the air filled with the whistling of falling debris. A secondary explosion sounded, flaring the sector momentarily with light. The edge of the city, well out of range of her casually thrown fireballs. The reactor was burning. Her guilt vanished; this was through no fault of her own. Something else had caused this incident. The stink of raw mako hit her like a wave, unusual above plate.

The reactor was on fire, badly damaged and leaking poisonous substances. The streets crowded by panicky idiots, the air filled with cloying particles and falling debris. She had to get out of here. She needed to get home; to try and perform at this time was futile, dangerous. She rapidly gathered her props together, tucking them neatly into the wicker basket she carried and began walking quickly towards the station.

She caught the unmistakable glow of mako eyes. Almost unwillingly she stared at the man walking along the street towards her. SOLDIER- What had happened? She called out to him as he approached, blinking in surprise at the flames still flickering across her props; she’d forgotten to fully extinguish them. She concentrated and the flames vanished before they could damage the wicker. She asked him what had happened; the man oddly cagey, trying to hide his emotions. A bomb at the reactor he eventually admitted.

He’d advised her to try and get out of the Sector and questions died on her lips as he darted away into the confused mass of people still panicked over the explosion. She stared after him, cursing the lost opportunity to maybe find out Zack’s fate; a SOLDIER had a chance of knowing, right? Maybe she’d see this SOLDIER again? Unlikely in a city of this size - unless she came up here again and waited as she had for Zack.

She smiled as she walked, realising she was seriously considering doing the same thing she had for Zack, waiting on this new SOLDIER to run into her again. No matter what had happened with Zack, she still cared for him and did want to know ultimately where he was now. Though the blond SOLDIER was pretty cute. She shook her head, wondering at her thoughts and hurried towards the station and home.

* * *

Two days since. She had returned the next night to look for the SOLDIER from outside the damaged Goblin’s Bar, in amongst all the debris. She gave only a small simplistic performance partly because of a lack of potential audience members, and partly so she could break off easily if she did see him again. It had admittedly been a long-shot but she wasn’t prepared to give up quickly. There was always tonight after all, and Sector Eight seemed to always have SOLDIERS.

The sound of an explosion drew her attention upwards. Where there was explosions there was fire, and she could never help the strange need to glimpse the flames. Debris rained down onto the roof like the rare rainfall into the sector.

Something heavy smashed through the roof. It crashed to the floor and shattered the floorboards, throwing a plume of splinters and dust up into the air. She started as the air cleared. Against all odds the same blond haired SOLDIER lay awkwardly on the destroyed floor.

The delight in seeing him rapidly changed to melancholy, certain he could not live after the fall; he must have dropped from the plate above. To her amazement he abruptly drew in a breath, murmuring something as his head shifted to a more comfortable position. It was as if he was sleeping. She smiled; SOLDIERs were as tough as the rumours suggested. She crossed to his prostrate form to see if she could rouse him.


	3. Combustion

“Hello?” She called out to the man in a SOLDIER uniform laying awkwardly on the shattered floorboards. “Hello?”

His eyelids fluttered and opened, revealing his brilliant blue eyes and the tell-tale ring of green around his pupil. The man's face contorted with pain and with a wince he sat up. Aeris straightened from her crouch beside him. “Are you okay?”

His gaze flicked around the room taking in the scorched floorboards and damaged interior of the church. “Where... am I?” He sounded groggy and slightly confused. She chose her words carefully and spoke slowly.

“A church in the Sector Five slums. It looks like you fell from the upper plate.”

“I... fell?”

She nodded and, with a glance upward, said “The roof must have broken your fall. You’re lucky.”

“Lucky...” he murmured, before sinking briefly onto his back. He sprang onto his feet. “Sorry about the roof.”

She smiled and shook her head. “It’s not really mine. I’m just using it.”

He nodded vaguely, reappraising the interior.

“So... We meet again. And right after another reactor explosion.” Aeris folded her arms. “You do remember me, don’t you?”

The man’s eyes lost focus, a hand involuntarily snaking to the bridge of his nose. She was about to continue when his eyes widened slightly. “I remember... You were in Sector Eight. Performing?”

“That’s right.” She smiled at him. “Though I was wearing my other dress.” She waved her hand from the faded pink sundress to the shimmering material carefully folded in her basket. She faced him again. “I’m Aeris, the fire dancer. Pleased to meet you again.”

“...Cloud. ” His gaze locked with hers. “I do a little bit of everything.”

“A jack of all trades, huh?”

He nodded, a movement attracting his attention. Aeris followed his gaze. The red-haired Turk leant laconically against the door appraising the situation. Or at least the impression he intended to give. Subtle indications of panic he wasn’t hiding perfectly. He was wearing a stanard plain black suit. His hair styled too, and bore no traces of any non-flammable coating. Seemingly unaware of what he was in for coming to invite her back to Shinra.

Tseng had bid many hasty retreats from her mother’s house with his trouser legs rapidly consumed by fire, before only venturing to see her fully protected. Had the company gotten fed up with his inability to deliver her and so had sent in another? But not bothered to prepare him? No matter. A singular Turk she could deal with.

Cloud was striding forward to meet the Turk when she caught sight of an entire platoon lined up on the street, readying rifles. Whether tranquillisers or live ammunition she couldn’t see, nor was she eager to find out. These troops seemed more prepared; all wearing familiar flame retardant clothing the guards wore wearing long ago when she was last confined in the Shinra building. Not good.

“Cloud,” she called out. “Have you ever been a bodyguard? You do do everything right?” He paused and nodded quickly over his shoulder. “Then help me get out of here. Get me home.”

“It’ll cost you.” So mercenary.

“How about if I go out with you once?”

His step faltered, and his composure slipped revealing a thrilled teenage sensibility before he recovered, and nodded again. “Agreed.”

The Turk watched them with interest, but now called over his shoulder and a first wave of troops strode into the church.

“Reno, want us to take out the SOLDIER too?” Despite the low tone, the commander's question carried easily in the silence of the church.

“He’s a SOLDIER?” hissed Reno with a grimace, his eyes leaving Aeris and appraising the man standing with her. “Can you handle him?” he asked.

The officer was worried. “Possibly. The dosage was set for the Ancient. If we hit him with enough he should go down.”

Reno focused back on Cloud. Aeris snatched up her staff. “Cloud, this way!”

A trooper raise his gun; Aeris flicked her hand. A wide band of fire flared up bisecting the church, the flames tall and almost reaching to the rafters. “What?” Cloud, stalled.

“No time, for that. Come on!” She pulled at his arm as she heard the officer barking orders. It was a surprise, nothing more. They’d prepped to face the Ancient. Not waiting for the troops to work up the nerve to actually walk through the flames she ran with Cloud close on her heels through and into the back room of the church. She lead the way up the staircase and up into the rafters. Booted feet hurried after them as she flicked new plumes of fire into the doorway.

“At some point, you’re going to have to show me how you’re doing that.” Cloud was impressed.

“Maybe on our date. If you’re lucky.” Thankful he didn’t seem to have picked up on, or seen fit to comment on the references to her status as an Ancient.

The troops below had gotten over their earlier nerves and more willing to charge the flames. With a muttered apology, Aeris flicked a flame onto the dry wooden stairs leading up to the rafters. Now they had to keep going forward.

“Really hope you haven’t trapped us up here.” Cloud was holding his sword in one hand as he followed her across the beams. They crossed from the back room into the main church as the troops began hurrying back on the floor below, calling for water. Reno shouted a curse up at them. Any words died on his lips as Aeris flicked a fireball towards him. He barely scrambled out of the way, flames consuming the door behind him. Hasty calls for a retreat came as the fires continued to burn. The troops desperately pulled open the church doors to be away from the flames.

Aeris paused and concentrated. She drew the fire away from the back room, noting she had not damaged the wood as much as she had feared and the fire’s nature remained largely magical and superficial. She concentrated a new burst of flames towards the front of the church as she extinguished the others. Best to give the impression of a burning building and not outright destroy it. She’d always liked the quiet sanctuary to practice her dances and her acts. Pausing only to place her finger against her lips and look meaningfully at Cloud she crept out of the hole he had made in the church roof.

Her feet slipped slightly as she crawled up the slated roof and perched on the top. Cloud joined her, and with a quick peek to see if Shinra were still in church, she extinguished the flames beside the doors. They sat on the roof, listening with quiet amusement at the feet running on the floorboards below them as an increasingly frantic Reno ordered repeated searches of the church, some troops venturing up into the rafters, but none willing to traverse the beams to check those the couple had used them as an escape route and assumed they were long gone.

Aeris smiled slightly at the only partly incorrect assumptions as Reno snarled into his PHS, before recalling the troops and directing them towards the station. He took one last look at the church, uttered a muted curse and followed them.

“The Turks are part of Shinra,” Cloud mused as they watched the man wander out of sight. “They scout for prospective SOLDIER candidates amongst other things.”

Aeris barely paused, not willing to divulge how familiar she was with the group. Cloud had seemingly not caught the additional and unconventional armour the troops wore. “Are they always that violent? That seemed more like an armed response.”

Cloud shrugged. “They do do other stuff on the side. The unofficial work Shinra doesn’t want associated with it’s name. Spy-work, possibly murder-” He trailed off. “Usually they don’t have that much backup though.”

“That ‘Reno’ certainly looked capable on his own.”

“True. Why are they after you? From what they said, they certainly weren’t there to apprehend me.”

“Maybe they think I the aptitude to make it into SOLDIER!” A bad lie, and a smirk touched Cloud’s lips as she said it. She was about to protest when he spoke again.

“Maybe. Would you want to join? Your skill with fire would make you an attractive prospect.”

Was he flirting with her? She dismissed the notion, trying to draw this slightly awkward conversation to a close. “Not sure. At least I don’t want to be caught by that lot.”

“Well. I still have to get you home, don’t I?” He walked back along the church roof and leapt down onto an adjacent structure and Aeris quickly followed behind him. He moved rapidly, much more rapidly, springing quickly and tirelessly between structures and roofs, keeping them up and away from the ground. Eventually she had to call out.

“Wait!” He appraised her as she clambered more awkwardly over the piles of junk and debris to his perch. “Slow down a little. A bodyguard shouldn’t leave his client behind!”

“And I thought you were cut out to be in SOLDIER?” His head tilted slightly to watch her reaction, and another smile touched his lips. She grimaced and scowled at him, provoking an unexpected laugh. It was infectious and she laughed with him.

“Cloud? Were you in SOLDIER?” He must have been. The eyes, the uniform. But better to be sure.

“I used to be. What gave it away?”

“The eyes.” It always came back to the eyes. That faint green glow he shared with Zack.

“Ah. Yeah, a bit hard to hide those. It’s a side-effect of mako infusion. Guess it really is public knowledge these days.”

“Y-yeah.” She stuttered slightly, reluctant to ask about Zack or admit he was the sole reason she knew anything of SOLDIER.

“Something wrong?” He frowned concerned.

“Nothing!” She responded too quickly and needed to cover. “Let’s keep moving.” He nodded, and with more careful glances back they continued on, eventually finding a convenient slope formed from a nearly intact roof, laying in amongst the other debris forming the channel like streets of Sector Five.

“I think you might want to lead on now.” The SOLDIER surveyed the Sector carefully. “I’ve never been down this way before.”

She nodded, and carefully guided him through the long twisting paths to the communal hub of the Sector. A sight arrested Cloud as they walked; a doddering figure hidden under a thick black cloak. How could he stand so much warm clothing in the muggy heat of the sector? Cloud approached him cautiously, but curiously. His hand never strayed to the massive sword hanging from the harness across his back, but did not seem to perceive this figure as any kind of threat. 

Cloud crouched beside the figure, eyes fixed on the cloaked figure’s head. Aeris walked cautiously up between the pair, and heard faint harsh whispering, and guttural moans. She caught a glimpse of his hand as he rolled away and into the pipe. Inscribed in black ink was a tattoo of the number two.

“He’s ill...”

Cloud shook his head. “There’s nothing we can do for him. I’m not good with healing... Are you?”

His words harsh but he was right. There was suffering all around her, and she was ill-equipped to help any of them. “No,” she admitted. “No, I’m not.” With a final glance at the hunched figure visible inside the pipe she lead Cloud away and towards the edge of the Sector.  
Hidden away behind two apartment blocks was an unexpectedly large open space. The buildings at their back formed one side of a cavern here below the plates. Cloud’s eyes widened as he took in the huge space. Actual grass carpeted the three islands jutted out from the fast flowing river open to the air. Unusually for Midgar the city ‘s construction built up around a natural outcrop, water cascading down rocks, welling up from deep within the ground.

Unlike the rest of Midgar, this place felt open to the air. The sun shone brilliantly through the plate-gap; blue sky visible in between the metal edges. He simply gazed in awe as Aeris smirked and stepped around him, heading for the small cottage. Cloud shook out of his reverie as she crept up behind him.

“Do you like my home?”

“Y-yes-” he trailed off, his gaze not straying from the grass. She smiled, an unusual sight in the city admittedly. She glanced back towards the house.

“My mom’s not home yet. We can go inside to rest for a bit, unless you’d like to rest out here? Or are you wanting to be paid now?”

“Maybe... maybe rest for a bit,” the swordsman murmured, feet already propelling him forward. He moved rapidly towards a sunbeam shining down into the garden and one of the trees. He stood, basking in the sunlight, his eyes tightly closed sitting down, his back against the tree.

“Cloud?”

“Mmm?” came the vague response.

“You’re tired aren’t you?”

“N-no. I just need a minute. I need to get going. I need to-” He trailed off, his eyes closed and his breathing steadying. She crouched beside him and watched. The sun’s warmth was a little uncomfortable for her, but she persevered and carefully sat, almost touching Cloud’s shoulder against the tree. She gazed at the man. So tired, and the ease with which he’d fallen asleep- She couldn’t disturb him. Time for practice.

She retrieved a selection of candles from the house, and with some careful glances to ensure he was still asleep, she set a line of them up in the same way as the church. Now to pick up where she left off.

* * *

Her mother returned hours later as the sun shifted away from the gap in the upper plates. Her practice was almost there, and she’d taken care to not damage the garden or wake the sleeping mercenary. She smiled and waved as her mother appeared down the path from the outer areas of Sector Five. Her mother waved back, frowning at the man Aeris now shook awake

“I thought you were going to be back later today.” Elmyra walked over to them, eyes widening slightly. Both Aeris and Cloud rose to their feet.

“This is Cloud; my bodyguard.”

“Bodyguard? Oh! Were you followed again?”

Aeris waved her hand dismissively. “I was fine. Cloud was here to look after me.”

The comment embarrassed him and he nodded hastily towards Elmyra. “Pleased to meet you Ma’am.”

“Elmyra, please. Thank you for taking care of her, Cloud. But if you’ll just excuse me, I need to start the dinner.”

Aeris watched Elmyra walk to the house, her adopted mother catching her eye and raising an eyebrow almost imperceptibly. She couldn’t help but smile, quickly changing it to a frown and shooed her mother away. Cloud was staring around the area again and seemingly missed the whole exchange.

“So, Cloud; what are you going to do now?”

“Is Sector Seven far from here? I need to get back to Tifa’s bar.”

“Is Tifa a girl?”

Her reaction surprised her. She’d known the man a handful of hours now, and she was already worried he had someone else?

“Y-yeah.” He was confused.

“A girlfriend?” She asked, all innocence.

“What? No! I mean... No...”

She was curious now. He was single, but interested in someone? “I think I can show you to Sector Seven... Though that might cost you something else this time.”

“Why would you want to put yourself in danger again by taking me all the way over there?”

A shrug. “I’m used to it. I’ve lived here all my life.”

“Used to it? Not sure about getting help from a girl-”

That tore it. Help back at the church was one thing, but she was no damsel in distress. “’Not sure about getting help from a girl’?! Just what do you mean by that?”

He jumped, looking shocked by the outburst. She decided to press her advantage. “You expect me to just sit here all meek and mild after hearing you say that?” She stalked into the house, Cloud trailing behind her. “Mom? I’m going to take Cloud to Sector Seven. I’ll be back later.”

There was some shuffling from kitchen and Elmyra walked into the living room. She opened her mouth to retort and decided against it. “Never mind,” she murmured. “You’ve already made up your mind haven’t you?” Aeris nodded. “Can it at least wait until tomorrow? It’ll be the middle of the night before you get back here if you set off now.”

She was right, and an unspoken reminder of the dangers of going through Sector Six entailed. More tangles with Don Corneo’s cronies. The gangster lord of Wall Market in Sector Six had taken a liking to her after he had heard tales, and presumably seen recordings of one of her routines. Approached a few years ago by some of his thugs to interview for him. She’d refused and left them in a confused muddle as she ignited their trousers.

They soon learned the Shinra tricks of wearing protective clothing before bothering her, but they soon found fire was not the only trick in her arsenal. And not necessarily focused on their clothing. She’d rejected multiple, increasingly generous offers from the gangsters. The common thread was she had to sell her soul for exclusivity and dance solely for the Don at his behest. The restrictions sounded suffocating, irrespective of the darker rumours floating around the slums about the man. While she was confident she could deal with the thugs, it would still be more pleasant during the day-light hours.

“Yeah, yeah you’re right.”

“We can put Cloud up for the night though.”

The man shifted uncomfortably. “Don’t worry about me, I’ll find my own way back, or to a hotel or something.”

Aeris touched his arm. “But you’ve never been to this Sector before have you Cloud? You’ve got a good chance of getting pretty lost. Plus I bet you’re hungry aren’t you?”

“Starving.” He admitted with a faint smile, and Aeris realised he couldn’t have eaten anything since the previous evening. He hadn’t complained once all day.

“Then you can stay for dinner too.” Elmyra wandered back into the kitchen and called over her shoulder. “Aeris? Can you make up the spare bed for our guest?”

She smiled and ran up the stairs, raiding the cupboards to get out the spare sheets, and quickly made up the bed in the spare room before darting downstairs again. Something had changed slightly in Cloud’s demeanour in the few minutes she’d been away, suspicious of what her mother might have said. Cloud was still smiling, but reserved and slightly distant.

She had little time to pry into what happened; dinner was soon ready and the three of them had a pleasant meal together; they talked briefly about Cloud’s childhood. It was a subject he seemed reluctant to dwell on for long and he quickly pivotted the conversation to Aeris’ own younger years. She told carefully edited versions of her life outside of Shinra, slipping into stories of how she had wound up as a fire dancer. Afterwards Elmyra swiftly retired, catching Cloud’s eye before ascending the stairs. The curiosity was near maddening, but-

Cloud asked her to demonstrate her routine; conscious he had interrupted at least one performance and one practice, and he had no idea how her act ran. A surprising request, but obliged, pulling him up from his chair and into the garden. She decided to do without her usual dress, and conscious of the green grass around her, was more careful as she ran through a routine. A normal one, a typical night’s work when her heart wasn’t in the performance, and she only wanted to get home and sleep.

But Cloud seemed enraptured, and she embellished the routine with flourishes, performing some more of the complex and fanciful moves. She was hitting her groove and it became easier. His gaze trailed through space as he followed the poi in it’s arcs and showers of sparks she concentrated intently on to ensure they would not set the garden alight.

And before she was entirely aware of her actions, she slipped into a dance. Her tape-player was back at the church, or possibly taken by the Turks; ditto her best dress. She made do though. The sector’s night life was coming alive around them; and while never as busy, garish or notorious as Sector Six, the pulse of music from a night club was clear enough; she swayed and moved to its racing beat.

Cloud’s eyes never left her, and she couldn’t refrain from the final flourish for this man, this SOLDIER with the beautiful eyes. She unwound her ribbon, drew the tiny white sphere out from within her braided hair and ignited her hair. His eyes widened in surprise and panic, before he settled, grasping this was part of the performance. She pivoted with a flourish, flaming hair whipping around her only to extinguish as the song ended.

She brushed her hair back over her shoulders in one movement, smiling and bowing towards her audience. He sat in a daze for before bringing his hands together in applause. Flustered, trying to come up with some words of praise, and she simply smiled, pleased she had amazed him so. The sector around them darkened as she wound her hair back up into its braid once more.

She lead him back into the house, both keeping their voices low, reasonably sure Elmyra had gone to bed. “You need to go through Sector Six to get to Sector Seven,” she explained to him as they paused at the bottom of the stairs. He simply nodded in response. “Sector Six is dangerous so you’d better get some sleep tonight. Cloud-”

The question caught in her throat. The evening already so much fun; to bring up Zack now felt uncomfortable. She shook her head at his quizzical gaze and instead lead him up the stairs. She pointed out the bathroom and the spare room. They both dithered, both unsure of the situation and how to act, before Aeris broke the stalemate and wished him goodnight.

She flopped onto her bed, smiling and wondering if she would get any sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Continued (with a large time-skip) in: [_Rising from the Ashes_](https://archiveofourown.org/works/13658667/chapters/34185215).
> 
> What was intended to happen is mostly the same plot as FFVII to a point - though Aeris would burn down both Don Corneo's mansion and the Shinra building. For Condor and the phoenix would be particularly interesting - as to would the Cosmo Candle. The plot wouldn't change much though and she would inevitably head to the City of the Ancients.

**Author's Note:**

> Continues in _[Nightly Routine](https://archiveofourown.org/works/14340672/chapters/33097365)_


End file.
